Thailand: Activist claims he was hit by PM's security guard

Activist Ekkayuth Anchunbutr, the owner of ThaiInsider.com, claimed Thursday that he was hit on his face by a security guard of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Ekkayuth posted on his Facebook that he would hold a press conference at 4 pm to detail the attack against him, which happened at a coffee shop inside the Four Seasons Hotel.

He claimed that he was attacked when he accidentally encountered Yingluck leaving the hotel.

He said he would tell the press conference whom Yingluck met at the hoteol.

"The person is close to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawater and is on the run from legal cases," Ekkayuth claimed.

The Nation

"Slavery is the daughter of darkness; an ignorant people is the blind instrument of its own destruction; ambition and intrigue take advantage of the credulity and inexperience of men who have no political, economic or civil knowledge. They mistake pure illusion for reality, license for freedom, treason for patriotism, vengeance for justice."-Simón Bolívar

Looks like another faggy amart yellow jek to me.. His boyfriend probably did it to him. Did he wave his hands around and gesticulate a lot at the Press Conference (and then place them carefully in his lap)?

Activist? WTF? Spectacularly shit reporting. He's a criminal - he ran a ponzi scheme and after it collapsed ran away to hide in England - and more recently he's been famous as a misogynistic prick who enjoyed a few minutes in the limelight after making a Facebook post saying that the PM, in common with all Northern women, should stick to being a whore. He's a first class kunt who deserves a lot more than he got.

"He claimed that he was attacked when he accidentally encountered Yingluck leaving the hotel."
The Nation must be quite desperate for stories, I'm no fan of Yingluck but certainly expect that she justifiably has security staff to keep people like this away from her. If this encounter happened at all, there is about a 0% chance it was accidental.

Mr Chalerm called a press briefing to explain the incident and showed images caught on closed circuit television cameras in the Four Seasons Hotel on Ratchadamri Road.

From the images Mr Ekkayuth was sitting in the lobby when a man wearing a pair of jeans approached him and assaulted him. The assailant then fled and security guards failed to catch him, the deputy premier said.

"The prime minister's security personnel don't wear jeans, as claimed by Mr Ekkayuth, and he has no role in politics and the government is not at loggerheads with him.

"It is my analysis that the assault might stem from a personal dispute involving Mr Ekkayuth, or a sexual affair, or that maybe the incident was a set up," said the deputy prime minister.

He also said the attack happened after Ms Yingluck had left the hotel.

"Mr Ekkayuth should file a police complaint since he seems to knows the attacker's appearance well," he said.

Well-known businessman Ekkayuth Anchanbutr points to his right eye after saying he was physically assaulted inside a five-star hotel in Bangkok on Feb 9, 2012. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)

The prime minister did attend a meeting on the seventh floor of the Four Seasons Hotel, and she was accompanied by both female and male security personnel, he said.

Mr Chalerm said he was not concerned about Mr Ekkayuth's claim or if he wanted to disclose more information relating to the incident to the media and on a social media website.

He said Mr Ekkayuth can reveal more information if it is useful but he might face legal action if he makes false accusations.

National police chief Priewpan Damapong took the same tone as Mr Chalerm, saying it was unlikely that the premier's security personnel attacked the real estate businessman, a long-time critic of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Pol Gen Priewpan, who is Ms Yingluck's cousin, said the prime minister would not resort to violence because she is a woman.

He urged Mr Ekkayuth to file a complaint with the police so they can examine the evidence, such as his medical report.

The police chief said he had instructed the Metropolitan Police Bureau's Division 5 to gather all evidence relating to the incident.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)

However, Prime Minister Yingluck said she did not attend a meeting on the seventh floor of the hotel, contradicting Mr Chalerm.

"As a prime minister, I can go and meet anyone in an open venue and there's nothing wrong with it," said Ms Yingluck.

She said she would not take legal action against Mr Ekkayuth, who yesterday said it would unnerve many people if he revealed the names of those seen with Ms Yingluck at the hotel.

Mr Ekkayuth said the man who punched him in the face was in uniform and that witnesses told him the man was close to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin.

He also said then he was curious to know why Ms Yingluck set a meeting venue in a private room instead of a hotel restaurant, and accusation Ms Yingluck denied today.

The Democrats have demanded that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra clarify her visit to the Four Seasons Hotel last week that led to her absence from a meeting with House legislators.

If the premier keeps silent about the purpose of the visit, she may be a further target of rumours that she might have held secret talks at the hotel on "vested interests" in state flood prevention plans, Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said yesterday.

Ms Yingluck earlier said she was "free to meet anyone" at the hotel, which is a public place, and insisted her visit had nothing to do with irregularities.

However, Mr Chavanond said Ms Yingluck went to the hotel during office hours, cancelled her meeting at the House immediately and told reporters not to follow her.

The premier arrived at the hotel on Ratchadamri Road at about 2pm on Wednesday and left at about 3.30pm, according to Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung.

She was seen going upstairs by businessman Ekkayuth Anchanbutr, who said on his Facebook account that he could name individuals he saw with her, which could unnerve a lot of people.

A property developer was seen while Ms Yingluck was in the hotel, so her visit raised a worry that if the developer knew where the government would locate a floodway, he would buy the land and wait to sell to officials during land expropriation, Mr Chavanond speculated.

Mr Ekkayuth, who used to lead a campaign against the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, said he was assaulted by a man in uniform shortly after Ms Yingluck left the hotel.

He learned from witnesses the attacker was close to Thaksin, the elder brother of Ms Yingluck.

Lumpini police chief Pol Col Chanin Wachirapanikun yesterday urged Mr Ekkayuth to lodge a complaint with police and identify his attacker so that action could be taken. Security footage showed only a group of men running out of a hotel.

The Nation February 13, 2012 1:00 am
Government critic Akeyuth Anchanbutr yesterday called for the speedy arrest of his assailant and accused the Pheu Thai Party of creating a diversion to Thursday's incident involving the prime minister at a five-star hotel.

Akeyuth claims an unidentified man assaulted him some 10 minutes after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra left the hotel, where she had attended a private function.

Pheu Thai deputy spokesman Jirayu Huangsap said Akeyuth tried to smear the prime minister by making remarks as if to link Yingluck to a love motel.

Akeyuth countered he had never made disrespectful remarks about Yingluck.

"Jirayu let his imagination run wild as I did not make any reference to a love motel," he said.

He said that as Yingluck had already assigned Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung to look into the incident, Jirayu and other Pheu Thai "cronies" should stop stirring up trouble.

Akeyuth reminded Chalerm of his duty to resolve the case in a speedy manner, claiming the deputy prime minister already knew the identify of the assailant.

He also ruled out the filing of a police complaint, arguing his attack was already public knowledge.

Legal adviser Noppadon Pattama said the Democrats should not try to portray Yingluck in a suspicious manner. He argued that Yingluck's presence at the hotel was proper and not linked to any conflict of interest or personal affairs.

Noppadon said Yingluck was a businesswoman for more than 20 years before entering politics, therefore it was normal for her to meet and solicit opinions in the business community in order to fine-tune her government performance.

Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit said the prime minister had openly travelled to the hotel and did not have a clandestine meeting as alleged.

Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut urged the prime minister to spell out why she spent official hours attending a private meeting.

No one suspected Yingluck of any questionable conduct but questions arose for two reasons - Akeyuth's attack coincided with her visit to the hotel, and there were rumours of land speculation in connection with the construction of a floodway, he said.

He said he did not understand why the spokesmen for the government and ruling party were making an issue about Yingluck's love life when none of the Democrats had cast any doubt on her personal affairs.

"Instead of shielding Yingluck, [deputy government spokesman] Anusorn [Iamsa-ard] is actually degrading his female boss," he said in reference to the government deputy spokesman's remarks that Yingluck was not involved in a secret liaison.

A group of activists is calling for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to be probed for her no-show at a House session last week, as she attended a meeting at the Four Seasons Hotel instead.

It still hurts
Businessman Ekkayuth Anchanbutr points to his bruised face after meeting Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunan, right, director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science. Mr Ekkayuth said he was punched on Feb 8 by an unidentified man at the Four Seasons Hotel after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra left the premises. THITIWANNAMONTHA

The so-called Green Political Group has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to examine the premier's ethics for skipping the House session last Wednesday.

Group representative Chaturon Boonbenjarat yesterday submitted a petition letter to Sa-ngad Patthawee, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The group called for an investigation into Ms Yingluck's ethics following her private meeting at the luxury hotel on Ratchadamri Road during working hours.

In the petition, the group claimed the prime minister's presence at the hotel might have been a case of conflict of interest.

The group said if her visit was not linked to any conflict of interest, she should have told the public what she was doing there.

The group insists the office must investigate the prime minister's ethics in line with Section 279 of the constitution, which requires individuals who exercise government authority to adhere to ethics, good conduct and appropriateness.

If Ms Yingluck is found to have violated these principles, the office must remove her from her post, the group said.

It also inquired about any progress in the office's move to investigate the ethics of Ms Yingluck and cabinet secretary-general Amphon Kittiamphon over the controversial appointments of Prime Minister's Office minister Nalinee Taveesin and Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Nattawut Saikuar.

In its previous petition submitted to the office, the Green Political Group questioned the qualifications of the two new ministers.

Ms Nalinee is on a United States blacklist for her alleged business dealings with the regime of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, while Mr Nattawut is a core red shirt leader who was involved in the political unrest in April-May, 2010.

Controversial businessman Ekkayuth Anchanbutr said he was present at the Four Seasons Hotel when Ms Yingluck turned up for her meeting.

He said he was assaulted by someone at the hotel that same afternoon. He believes his assailant was a man in uniform with ties to Thaksin Shinawatra, Ms Yingluck's elder brother.

He challenged Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung yesterday to meet him in front of the press to get to the bottom of the attack.

Mr Ekkayuth said on his website thaiinsider.com that Mr Chalerm had seen footage of the assault from the hotel's security cameras.

He also claimed police know who the mastermind behind the assault is, as well as the identity of his attacker.

Mr Chalerm insisted he knew nothing about the attack, and asked Mr Ekkayuth to report the assault to police.

Meanwhile, Mr Ekkayuth yesterday met Central Institute of Forensic Science director Porntip Rojanasunan to ask the institute to examine his injuries after two hospitals refused to give him a medical certificate.

Khunying Porntip said forensic doctors examined his injuries, but they could not issue him a medical certificate as the businessman did not attend the institute until four days after the assault, and his injuries had healed somewhat.